Festive Mayhem:
Ten Stories of Holiday Mystery,
Crime, and Suspense
This holiday season, treat yourself to a delicious sampler of stories of holiday mystery, crime, and suspense. Festive Mayhem is a limited-edition collection of short stories that give you all the favorite flavors of the genre. Featuring five cozies, three hard-boiled and two suspenseful thrillers. You will love sitting down and treating yourself to each story in this collection. Like a box of fine chocolate samples from a high-end chocolate shop, each story is a treat you will savor. Plus, you will want to read more stories from each of the authors. This collection is a great way to discover ten new writers and the worlds they build.
One thing I really like about these stories are the interesting cultures they are set in. Each of the authors bring something new and interesting to their stories. From the 1930s-era Chinese Los Angeles to the Nigeria community of England, you will find much to enjoy.
Here are the stories in this collection:
“The New Year’s Hex” by Carolyn Marie Wilkins. Carrie McFarland finds her New Year’s plans derailed when a psychic vision pulls the 1920s African American amateur sleuth into someone’s evil scheme.
“Pipe Dreams” by S.G. Wong. In this hard-boiled Crescent City short story, infatuation, and passion drive Minnie Chen straight into danger as she tries to best the City’s most glamorous private detective in a reimagined 1930s-era Chinese Los Angeles.
“A Christmas Tip” by Elizabeth Wilkerson. A surprise Christmas bonus becomes too tempting for Philadelphia nursing assistant Brianna Byers to resist—even if accepting requires some skillful skirting of the law.
“The Stranger in the House” by Stella Oni. This London House Mystery prequel stars Elizabeth Ojo, a Nigerian housekeeper at a posh guest house, who finds her Christmas intersecting with that of a mysterious resident in trouble.
“What Lies Inside” by Kia Dennis. A tormented university professor falls deeper and deeper into a destructive obsession in this harrowing tale of love and longing.
“A Pub, Bed & Breakfast & A Dead Body” by Forest Issac Jones. A dark past becomes the deadly present when North Carolina police detective Ike Coates and his intrepid young partner are tasked with determining the cause of a suspicious death.
“A Deadly First” by Delia C. Pitts. Thanksgiving takes a fatal turn when New York private eye SJ Rook finds himself thrust into his first murder case in this darkly atmospheric tale of noir.
“The Holiday Murder Mélange” by Myra Jolivet. This Sarah Doucette Jean-Louis short story follows the Creole P.I. around the San Francisco Bay Area on her quest to figure out who killed a man outside of her office.
“Those Holiday Blues” by Jennifer J. Chow. Jasmine, aka “Jazz,” can’t escape the tragic past when an old boyfriend asks to meet on the anniversary of his mother’s death.
“Holiday Holdup” by Paige Sleuth. In this Cozy Cat Caper Mystery Short, Imogene Little gets tangled up in a Christmas Eve bank robbery orchestrated by none other than Santa Claus himself.
This collection is no longer available.
You can learn more about the authors in this collection here:
Carolyn Marie Wilkins: https://www.carolynwilkins.com/
S.G. Wong: https://sgwong.com/
Elizabeth Wilkerson: http://elizabethwilkerson.com/
Stella Oni: https://stellaonithewriter.com
Kia Dennis:
Forest Issac Jones: http://www.forestissacjones.com/
Delia C. Pitts: https://www.deliapitts.com/
Myra Jolivet: https://myrajolivet.com/
Jennifer J. Chow: http://jenniferjchow.com/
Paige Sleuth: http://www.marlabradeen.com/ps/